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Rob Ford's back and itching for a fight: Hepburn

Councillor Rob Ford, shown here at the first council meeting with John Tory as mayor on Dec. 2, 2014, is back and will be dogging the new mayor on everything from taxes to buses, garbage collection and "wasteful" city hall spending, Bob Hepburn writes. (Chris Young / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Let’s be clear right from the start — Rob Ford and John Tory aren’t friends now, never were and likely never will be.

Their distaste for each other was on full display during much of last year’s mayoral campaign before Ford was forced to drop out barely two months before voting day to battle cancer.

But now, with Tory’s mayoral tenure barely 50 days old, it’s become obvious that their mutual dislike will play a critical role in Toronto politics over the coming months and likely right up to the 2018 mayoral election.

That’s because — like it or not — Rob Ford’s back and itching for a fight.

Indeed, Ford has signalled by his words and actions over the last two weeks that he has unofficially kicked off his 2018 mayoral bid. Ford has made no secret of wanting to run again if his health holds up.

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In doing so he has sent a strong message to Tory that he will be pandering once again to his Ford Nation fanatics, dogging the new mayor on everything from taxes to buses, garbage collection and “wasteful” city hall spending.

Many Toronto voters may be puzzled about why Ford isn’t focusing solely on his health instead of fighting with Tory. Ford is starting 27 straight days of radiation to tackle the tumour in his abdomen, after undergoing five rounds of chemotherapy to shrink the cancerous mass in half.

But politics is in Ford’s blood and he plainly doesn’t think much of Tory as mayor, doesn’t think there’s anyone on the horizon other than himself who can beat Tory in 2018, and believes he can do more than Tory to help the city and its poorer residents.

Here are signs he’s back:

First, he showed up at a police graduation ceremony on Jan. 8 and used the occasion to blast Tory, saying “some things he’s done are just ridiculous.” Among the items he cited were Tory’s decision to approve further study of privatizing garbage collection east of Yonge Street and his parking enforcement crackdown.

Second, Ford dropped in unannounced on Jan. 12 at a public town hall organized by city councillor James Pasternak (Ward 10), which had Tory as the guest speaker. Wearing his Don Bosco high school football jacket, Ford stood at the back of the community centre room at Bathurst and Steeles for about 30 minutes, having his photo taken with some audience members. The mayor’s party was reportedly rattled by Ford’s appearance. Was he there to intimidate the mayor? Did he want to send a message that he wasn’t going to limit himself just to representing the North Etobicoke ward where he was elected to his former council seat in the October election?

Third, Ford stepped into the provincial political arena on Jan. 16 when he announced he is endorsing Monte McNaughton (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex) for Conservative leader. McNaughton “will help the little guy and defend the taxpayer,” he said.

Fourth, Ford unleashed a torrent of scorn this week against Tory after the new mayor revealed plans to let children under 12 travel free on the TTC and talked about taxes possibly rising faster than inflation. “I was honest with taxpayers. John’s not,” Ford said, adding “people thought David Miller spent a lot” while Tory is “coming out just spending. He hasn’t saved any money so far.”

Ford’s attack prompted the National Post to declare in a front-page headline that Ford has emerged as Toronto’s “leader of the opposition.”

For his part, Tory is fully aware Ford is already in 2018 campaign mode. Because of that, the new mayor is fighting back, criticizing him for taking a “meat cleaver” to transit services and saying he “inherited a mess” when he was sworn in as mayor in December.

So why can’t the media and the public just ignore Ford for a few years?

While it would be nice to ignore Ford, it would also be foolish to dismiss his chance in the 2018 election if his health permits him to run.

Consider these facts: Despite Tory’s mayoral victory, Ford Nation is still a potent force. Doug Ford, who ran for mayor after his brother Rob dropped out, received more than 330,000 votes, finished first in 20 wards (the same number as Tory won), won more than 60 per cent of the votes in five wards and more than 50 per cent in 11 wards.

Clearly, though, Ford is deluding himself if he believes that four years from now enough voters will have forgiven him for his drug- and alcohol-crazed term as mayor to allow him to be returned to the office.

Also, he has fallen back into his old pattern of being a lone wolf on city council, voting against virtually everything and rarely working with other councillors. These days he is more isolated than ever at city hall now that his brother Doug is no longer on council.

Indeed, it seems he has learned nothing from his time as mayor about co-operation, compromise and moving the city forward.

That’s why Ford’s dreams of being re-elected as mayor seem to make little sense. But then, hardly anything about Ford or his mayoralty ever did.

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